Hanging out with His Holiness

Trip Start Jul 13, 2006
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Trip End Jul 06, 2007


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Flag of India  ,
Thursday, March 15, 2007

This morning I woke up early and went for a walk around town. After many days here you get to recognize many of the beggars... from the men on their home made skate boards who push themselves up the steep streets with flip flops on their hands for protection, the man who lives in the metal box in the market, the families that sit by the roads. As I rounded one corner I was surprised to see an old women who had lost all of her fingers and nose through leprosy. She was holding with the palms of both hands a tooth brush and brushed her teeth while sitting on the sidewalk where she had spent the night. It has taken me a long time to put a word to the emotion I felt then. I was ashamed that I had never considered she would be someone who would brush her teeth. Her humanity was evident in that gesture and it also made me ashamed when I considered my lavish lifestyle compared to her daily act of survival.

This is of course the home to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and we came to attend his teachings. We are not alone in this venture as hundreds of maroon clad monks and even more western tourists attend his lectures. Two days ago we were fortunate enough to see him. He certainly has a very serene presence, dare I say divine. The kids were very moved by the experience, Quinn said the 'sighting' ranked even higher than seeing the 11 lions eating the wildebeast in Kenya.

We have been staying in a remarkable spot here with a friend of Karen McD's. Felicitas and Jacob (originally from Germany and Austria) have lived on a mountain top that overlooks the town an hour's walk away. For the last 25 years they have raised four amazing children here who flip effortlessly back and forth among their langauages - english, german, hindi and Tibetan.

While this is a tranquil spot walking the streets can be chaotic. The roads are narrow and clogged with monks and Bhuddist hopefuls. The cars and motorcyles come ripping down the streets with their horns blaring and the bodies part at the last moment... occasionally the the odd elbow is smashed during the process of initiating those new to the area.
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